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New England's Culture Magazine

Artscope Magazine | January/February 2022

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Exhibits

ARTISTS EXPLORE ‘ANOTHER CROSSING’ AT THE FULLER CRAFT MUSEUM

// Artscope Online, Exhibits, Visual Arts

by Sawyer Smook-Pollitt

Over 400 years ago, the course of history changed when English colonists set out across the Atlantic bound for the “New World.” But for the Wampanoag people, this land was old, storied and contained everything they had ever known. At the Fuller Craft Museum, 10 artists were brought together to explore the depth and history of this event with its “Another Crossing: Artists Revisit the Mayflower Voyage” exhibition, on view through October 10. For artists Annette Bellamy, Sonya Clark, David Clarke, Michelle Erickson, Jeffery Gibson, Jonathan James-Perry, Jasleen Kaur, Christien Meindertsma, Katie Schwab and Allison Smith, this was no simple task. “The implications of the Mayflower crossing are so far-reaching that they are difficult to comprehend,” said Glenn Adamson, exhibition curator. “The voyage is both a national origin story and, given the widespread devastation of the … [Read more...] about ARTISTS EXPLORE ‘ANOTHER CROSSING’ AT THE FULLER CRAFT MUSEUM

A Day in Concord: ‘Dazzleship’ and ‘(un)seen’

// Artscope Online, Community, Exhibits, Visual Arts

by Sawyer Smook-Pollitt

When visiting Concord this summer, between stops at the Emerson or Alcott house, visit some of the art museums and galleries that dot this historic city. The Umbrella Arts Center and Concord Art are presenting poignant shows that explore the past and present of the human experience. The Umbrella Arts Center’s “Dazzleship” is a homage to seafaringvessels from the first World War that were painted with bold stripes and patterns meant to confuse onlookers. These “dazzle” patterns obscured the direction and velocity of ships on the water. The term finds renewed meaning with “Dazzleship,” a group exhibition curated by Michael MacMahon that – like dazzle paintjobs — aims “to toy with our perception.” Along with MacMahon, who also has a painting in the show, “Dazzleship” brings together 13 artists: Julia Csekö, Gage Delprete, Maya Erdelyi, Laura Fischman, Sarah E. Jenkins, Cody Justus, … [Read more...] about A Day in Concord: ‘Dazzleship’ and ‘(un)seen’

THE ART SCENE. BACK TO NORMAL?

// Artscope Online, Community, Editorial, Exhibits

by Nancy Nesvet

New York held a ticker tape parade in honor of health care workers on July 7. Galleries are opening up in New York, Massachusetts, Paris, and more. The fireworks were phenomenal and well attended by joyous Americans eager to celebrate their liberation from pandemic restrictions, showing their smiles, hugging their friends, families and strangers. Amid all this back to normalcy, Artscope Magazine reviewed a photograph so representative of all that is happening that it made me believe we had emerged into a new and better world. Puerto-Rican Street photographer Ruben Natal San Miguel, in his first solo show, “American Beauty” opened July 4 at Gary Marotta Fine Art in Provincetown, showing a woman in the South Bronx, New York City, one of the country’s areas hardest hit by the Covid 19 pandemic. Dressed in patriotic red, white and blue, in ripped cutoffs, she embraces her young son, and … [Read more...] about THE ART SCENE. BACK TO NORMAL?

EMBRACE THE UNUSUAL AT THE ATTLEBORO ARTS MUSEUM

// Artscope Online, Exhibits, Visual Arts

by Sawyer Smook-Pollitt

“Real or Imagined” at the Attleboro Arts Museum has something for everyone — paintings, sculptures, even 3D printed artwork. The 95 pieces in the show were selected by guest juror Clare Bell, exhibition director at the Guggenheim Museum. She narrowed down the selection from 756 pieces submitted by 416 artists from across the country. Of those 95, she selected six favorites which won jurors choice awards. The sheer variety in “Real or Imagined” is striking and is evident from the moment one enters the gallery. Immediately, the eye is drawn in different directions. Left are two large black herons sculpted from found objects, right is a bronze-colored 3D printed sculpture of a man emerging from a foot, and on all the surrounding walls are paintings and photographs – some abstract canvases of bright engaging colors and others that play upon childhood memories of toys and Halloween … [Read more...] about EMBRACE THE UNUSUAL AT THE ATTLEBORO ARTS MUSEUM

A WILD NOTE OF LONGING: ALBERT PINKHAM RYDER RETURNS TO NEW BEDFORD

// Artscope Online, Exhibits, Visual Arts

by Sawyer Smook-Pollitt

“The only American master who interests me is Ryder,” said Jackson Pollock, and he was not alone in that sentiment. Generations of artists took inspiration from Albert Pinkham Ryder. Now, for the first time in 31 years, Ryder’s work is once again on display. “A Wild Note of Longing: Albert Pinkham Ryder and a Century of American Art,” on display in the Wattles Family Gallery at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, bridges the gap between past and present by showing Ryder’s paintings alongside contemporary artists inspired by his work. Ryder has not been seen on this scale since a 1990 retrospective at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Elizabeth Broun, director emerita of the Smithsonian, had a hand in curating both shows. “It was all meant to be, it felt cosmic,” said Broun at a press conference, describing the exhibit’s opening night, a homecoming for the New Bedford-born … [Read more...] about A WILD NOTE OF LONGING: ALBERT PINKHAM RYDER RETURNS TO NEW BEDFORD

ACTIVATING SPACE: WATER 2021 COMES TO DOWNTOWN NEW BEDFORD

// Artscope Online, Exhibits, Visual Arts

by Sawyer Smook-Pollitt

Underneath the usual sound of honking cars and seagull calls in downtown New Bedford, Massachusetts, a soft rumbling can be heard from Swain Gallery at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Visual and Performing Arts. The source of the noise is one of three exhibits in “WATER 2021,” the latest show by the Massachusetts Design and Technology Institute (DATMA). DATMA, a non-collecting contemporary art institute in New Bedford is known for bringing public art displays to the city. With “WATER 2021,” DATMA shows three exhibits that explore the role of water in the histories, cultures and economies of several countries and the South Coast of Massachusetts. “WATER 2021” consists of “280 prepared dc-motors, cotton balls, cardboard boxes 13″ x 13″ x 13″, 2011/2021,” by Swiss artist, Zimoun; Hyung S. Kim’s, Phil Mello’s, and Craig Easton’s photo series in “Harvesters of … [Read more...] about ACTIVATING SPACE: WATER 2021 COMES TO DOWNTOWN NEW BEDFORD